Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

Armenia welcomes the  agreements on the Syrian crisis reached between Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, and John Kerry, US Secretary of State.

“We hope that in line with those agreements all sides will maintain the ceasefire in practice and, as an urgent step, an unhindered supply of the humanitarian aid to the regions most affected by the crisis and its distribution to the population will be ensured,” Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“In this regard we are even more concerned about the humanitarian situation in Aleppo and its neighbourhood, and it is more than urgent to provide humanitarian aid to those areas as soon as possible,” he added.

“We are hopeful that these agreements can serve as a basis for comprehensive negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis,” Balayan stated.

Germany’s government has plans to distance itself from a resolution recognizing the historic Ottoman slaughter of Armenians as genocide, a magazine report says. Berlin reportedly hopes the move might appease Ankara, reports.

The German news magazine “Der Spiegel” reported on Friday that Berlin planned a gesture to appease Turkish government anger over the Bundestag’s Armenia resolution.

By doing so, the report said, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government hoped to resolve a dispute that has seen German parliamentarians barred from visiting Bundeswehr troops stationed at the Incirlik airbase in eastern Turkey.

“Der Spiegel” reported that a deal had been agreed between the German Foreign Office and Merkel’s Chancellery that would see the government directly distance itself from the Armenia resolution.

Germany’s lower house backed a resolution in early June that explicitly declared the ethnic slaughter of Armenians by the Ottoman regime during World War I to have been a genocide.

In response, Ankara blocked German parliamentarians from visiting German troops stations at Incirlik, where the Bundeswehr is engaged in operations against “Islamic State” (IS). Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogandenounced the vote, recalled his ambassador to Berlin for consultations and threatened further action.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry has sought to resolve the dispute in recent weeks, with officials reportedly being told that Ankara wanted the German government to distance itself from the legislature’s vote. According to “Der Spiegel,” Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert would reiterate that the resolution had no binding legal effect on the actions of the German government. Even when it passed the Bundestag, it was clear to lawmakers that the resolution was non-binding.

Discussions had taken place about who should make the announcement, the report said, with neither Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier nor Merkel prepared to do so personally. Both politicians are said to privately support the parliament’s position.

Steinmeier is a member of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), which has said Germany should redeploy its troops to another support base in the Middle East, should German parliamentarians continue to be barred from visiting personnel.

Although Germany is not directly engaged in combat operations against IS, it has deployed a number of surveillance aircraft to assist the US-led coalition. The German parliament is scheduled to decide on a mandate to extend the mission in December.

Manchester United were drawn in Group A of the Europa League on Friday afternoon alongside Fenerbahce, Feyenoord and Zorya Luhansk.

The Reds were the first club drawn out of the bowl at the glitzy UEFA event in Monaco and Jose Mourinho’s men were later pitted against Robin van Persie’s Fenerbahce, as well as the Dutchman’s former club Feyenoord and little-known Ukrainian side Zorya. Here are the 12 groups in full:

GROUP A: Manchester United, Fenerbahce, Feyenoord, Zorya Luhansk.
GROUP B: Olympiacos, APOEL, Young Boys, FC Astana.
GROUP C: Anderlecht, Saint-Etienne, FSV Mainz, Gabala SC.
GROUP D: Zenit St. Petersburg, AZ Alkmaar, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Dundalk FC.
GROUP E: Viktoria Plzen, AS Roma, Austria Wien, FC Astra Giurgiu
GROUP F: Athletic Club, KRC Genk, SK Rapid Wien, US Sassuolo Calcio
GROUP G: AFC Ajax, Standard de Liege, Celta de Vigo, Panathinaikos FC
GROUP H: Shakhtar Donetsk, SC Braga, KAA Gent, Konyaspor.
GROUP I: FC Schalke, FC Salzburg, FC Krasnodar, OGC Nice.
GROUP J: Fiorentina, PAOK FC, Slovan Liberec, Qarabag FK.
GROUP K: Internazionale, AC Sparta Praha, Southampton, Hapoel Beer-Sheva FC

The International Weightlifting Federation has declared that as a consequence of the IOC’s reanalyses of samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games (IOC – wave 2), the samples of a number of athletes have returned Adverse Analytical Findings.

Gold medal winner in the 85kg weight category Andrey Ribakov of Belarus is among the athletes that failed the doping test. That means Armenia’s Tigran Martirosyan, who had won a bronze medal at Beijing Olympics, will now get the silver.

Martirosyan had lifted a combined 380 kg (177+203).

An Indian military plane with more than 20 people on board has gone missing over the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has confirmed to the .

The Antonov-32 transporter aircraft took off from Chennai (Madras) at 08:30 local time (03:00 GMT), bound for Port Blair in the eastern archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar.

It was scheduled to land at 11:30. A search operation has been launched.

The IAF operates more than 100 Antonov-32 aircraft.

A navy spokesman told the Reuters news agency that surveillance planes and ships were looking for the missing aircraft, which was carrying service personnel to strategic islands near the Malacca Straits, where India has a military base.

Wales reached the semi-finals of a major tournament for the first time after a stirring fightback to defeat Belgium in the European Championship quarter-final in Lille, the BBC reports.

Radja Nainggolan put Belgium ahead with a thunderous 25-yard strike but Wales captain Ashley Williams headed in from a corner to equalise in a breathless first half littered with chances at both ends.

Welsh celebrations reached stratospheric levels when Hal Robson-Kanu, a striker without a club, gave them the lead with a divine turn and finish.

After withstanding late Belgium pressure, Wales sealed victory through a header from substitute Sam Vokes that set up a semi-final against Portugal and a mouth-watering duel between Real Madrid team-mates Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Armenia has reiterated it rejects the Declaration of the Alliance of Civilizations Global Forum in Baku. “Azerbaijan, the host country of the 7th Forum, grossly violated the very aims, principles and values of the Alliance of Civilizations,” Ambassador Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Permanent Representative of Armenia to the United Nations, said addressing the UN Alliance of Civilizations Group of Friends Meeting. Ambassador Mnatsakanyan’s full speech is provided below:

At the outset, I want to thank you for convening the meeting of the Group of Friends of the Alliance.

Guided by the principles of the Alliance of Civilizations, the members of the Group of Friends (GoF) should work towards a more peaceful and socially inclusive societies, by building mutual respect among peoples of different ethnic, cultural and religious identities, embracing diversity and tolerance, rejecting polarisation, radicalization and violent extremism, eliminating stereotyping and intolerance, xenophobia and racism. The Group of Friends meets at its Forums of the AOC to reiterate commitment to these goals and coordinate efforts in promoting diversity and dialogue. The adoption by consensus of Declarations represents and empowers the outcome of the Forums.

Having said this, I reiterate that we reject the most recent Declaration of the AOC Global Forum, which blatantly disregarded consensus. Let me be clear, the Declaration has no consensus. There is no Declaration. One may argue that the GoF of the Alliance is an informal setting and rules of procedure of the UNGA maybe can or maybe cannot be applied to its proceedings. One may also try to define the notion of consensus or draw a distinction between consensus and unanimity. It is not a question of application and/or definition. It is first of all about the integrity, credibility and reputation of the Alliance and its Forums. We will resist the goals and principles of the Alliance to be trivialized by procedural befuddlement, let alone discredited by way of aggression and barbaric acts, driven by hatred and intolerance. By the way, to remind, the 7th forum host country did not provide additional security guarantees for the potential participation of Armenia’s Delegation in the forum despite all our inquiries and requests through the AOC Secretariat.

Azerbaijan, the host country of the 7th Forum, grossly violated the very aims, principles and values of the Alliance of Civilizations. The abhorrent barbarity committed against Nagorno Karabakh by the armed forces of Azerbaijan, including intentional and indiscriminate targeting of the peaceful population, especially children, women, and the elderly, as well as civilian facilities, including schools and kindergartens, killings, beheadings, torture and mutilation of bodies is incompatible with the elementary norms of a civilized world. It is a product of a long standing policy of racism, intolerance and incitement to hatred against Armenians, condoned and directly executed by the authorities of Azerbaijan. The grave and systematic violations of international humanitarian law committed by Azerbaijan and the glorification at the highest political level of persons directly involved in the atrocities constitute a crime against humanity and a war crime.

At the time of the gathering of the UNAOC 7th Forum Azerbaijan’s military continued to break the cease-fire, resulting in new human losses and serious violations of the International Humanitarian Law. At the opening of the Forum, the President of Azerbaijan, the official host, who portrays his country as a cradle of multiculturalism and claims “life in peace and dignity”, dedicated a significant part of his remarks to spew lies and disseminate misinformation, intolerance and hatred against Armenia and the Armenian people.

This has been an affront to the humanity, the very principles and purposes of the UN and the Alliance. Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh have been alarming the international community, including the AOC Group of Friends about the spread of the racism in Azerbaijan where the official machinery of the state and the head of state are the actual instigator of hate speech and vilification of the other. Persistent violations of human rights inside Azerbaijan, consistent attacks and imprisonment of its civil society representatives, the media and human rights defenders, and peace advocates, coupled with the regular dissemination of intolerance and hatred against the Armenian people provided breeding ground for the recklessness of the Azerbaijani regime.

Armenia remains committed to the principles and values of the Alliance. Armenia will aim at restoring the credibility and reputation of the Alliance. The selection of host countries for the AOC forums should be based on the host Government’s commitment to the principles of the Alliance, promotion of tolerance and reconciliation and its adherence to universal values and human rights. The GoF and the Alliance may consider developing certain criteria to apply while choosing and endorsing the host Government.

Armenia embraces the principles of the Alliance and remains its Friend. We have joined the Group of Friends with a determination to work hand in hand with its Members towards advancing the positive message of diversity and harmony of civilizations. We need to counter narratives of hatred and mistrust and turn words into actions. Armenia sincerely hopes that the AOC and its GoF will be able to better reflect on the abovementioned issues and maintain an inclusive and effective approach to the Alliance’s important work.

Thank you.

On 10 June Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan visited Belgian city of Mechelen.

The President met with the Mayor of the city Bart Somers, Deputy Mayor Marc Hendrickx and a group of officials.

Issues related to the cooperation between Mechelen and Artsakh were discussed during the talks.

President Sahakyan noted that establishing and developing ties between cities and regions of Artsakh and other countries were among the pivotal directions of bilateral cooperation especially in economic, cultural, scientific-educational and humanitarian spheres.

An official reception in honor of the President was organized in Mechelen city administration attended also by representatives of a range of Armenian organizations.

On the same day the President visited the Mechelen cross stone-monument devoted to the Armenian Genocide victims and laid a wreath there.

Bako Sahakyan signified the existence of such memorials in various countries emphasizing their role in the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and perpetuating the memory of innocent victims.

 

Bundesliga’s Player of the Season Henrikh Mkhitaryan has thanked all Bundesliga professionals for the votes.

“Truly honored to be voted Best Player of the Season! Thanks to all the‪ ‎Bundesliga professionals  for this amazing recognition!” Mkhitaryan said in a Facebook post.

Borussia Dortmund’s Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan was named the footballer of the Bundesliga 2015-16, according to a poll conducted by German magazine

Mkhitaryan topped the list with 31.1 percent of the votes, followed by Bayern Munich’s Polish striker Robert Lewandowski with 22.1 percent, reports Efe.

Bayern’s Thomas Muller came third with 13.6 percent, ahead of Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with 13.2 percent.

The best goalkeeper of the season was Bayern’s Manuel Neuer with 23.8 percent, followed by Mainz’s Loris Karius with 13.6 percent and Bayer Leverkusen’s Bernd Leno with 12.8 percent.

Territorial integrity cannot be opposed to the right of peoples to self-determination, Armenian deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan has said.

The comment comes after PACE President Pedro Agramunt declared at a meeting with Chairman of Azerbaijan’s Parliament that “all conflict must be solved within the territorial integrity of the countries.”

“It would be preferable for an international official of that level to be familiar with the fundamental document of the international law – the UN Charter, according to which the territorial integrity cannot be opposed to the right of people to self-determination,” Kocharyan said in comments to Armenpress.